


Watson's Deductions

by Small_Hobbit



Category: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-03-08 13:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3210098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dr Watson returns to Baker Street having been to visit a friend to find that Holmes has, once again, upset Mrs Hudson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watson's Deductions

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LJ's fan flashworks "Burn" challenge

When I returned from spending a few days with my friend Thornton in Leicestershire I was greeted warmly by Mrs Hudson.

“Good afternoon, Doctor, it’s good to see you back. Would you like some tea now, or shall I send Ivy up with it later?” she asked.

“In about half an hour’s time would be lovely, Mrs Hudson,” I replied. “Unless Holmes has other requirements.”

“Mr Holmes has gone out.”

It didn’t take a consulting detective to realise that once again Holmes had annoyed our landlady. As I made my way up the stairs to our rooms I decided I would employ my friend’s methods to determine what he had done.

It was clear that it had to be a recent event, for my welcome had been genuine. It would not have been the first time I had been caught by Mrs Hudson’s opprobrium; not for anything I had done, but purely because I had failed to curtail Holmes’ activities. As if anyone could stop him once he had an idea in his head.

I surveyed the room, but there were no obvious signs of disarray. There were the same number of bullet holes in the wall as when I had left and the curtains, although I am no particular judge of draperies, appeared to be the ones that had been hanging by the window on my departure.

The most reasonably premise was that Mrs Hudson had come to speak to Holmes about another matter when her attention had been drawn to the circumstances that caused her ire. A single event would leave her tutting and sighing, plural events and our much put-upon landlady would speak her thoughts.

Accordingly I stood in the spot she favoured for remonstrating with Holmes, or indeed with both of us. On the unlikely occasion that I was the sole subject of her annoyance she stood closer to the door and her tone was quieter, for her complaints were generally about muddy footprints left by someone in need of my professional services, or my own footprints when returning from providing those services. At those times, whilst still annoyed, she accepted such events more as occupational hazards.

From this spot I could clearly see several burn marks to the rug in front of the fire. They looked to me as though someone had removed a number of lumps of coal from the fire, without letting them cool first. My first thought was that this would have been done by a particularly careless housemaid when remaking the fire, but Ivy was an intelligent girl, so that made no sense. I remembered watching Holmes the day before I had left, in a fit of annoyance at a mistake he had made, throwing various papers in the fire. On that occasion he had barely stopped himself before jettisoning a sheet that had become attached to another. I could imagine a repeat performance and something ending up in the fire that he then realised he wanted. I wondered if he had burnt himself when he hastily removed the coals.

I had now discovered the final source of Mrs Hudson’s annoyance. However accurate my own deduction might prove to be, the burn marks were evident and it was not difficult to select the words that she would have used in expressing her feelings. This is not perhaps quite true, over the years her descriptions of Holmes’ behaviour have blossomed and I could not say for sure which she would have selected on this particular occasion, but I could guarantee the sentiment.

My next question was why had Mrs Hudson come up to see Holmes in the first place. I shut my eyes in an attempt to conjure a picture of our landlady preparing to berate Holmes, but could not come up with a specific reason. Instead I considered Holmes’ occupation on the day that I had left to visit my friend. He had been immersed in a scientific experiment, and so I walked through to see if there was any further evidence available in the room he used for this work.

The sleeve of one of Holmes’ shirts was resting on the stool. The sleeve had a number of holes, caused by chemical burns from Holmes’ experiments. I could see that some of the holes had been darned and then burnt again. At first I was confused as to why the sleeve was no longer attached to the rest of the shirt, but then it became clear as I realised what must have happened.

Mrs Hudson had been complaining for some time as to the condition of Holmes shirts and had asked him to replace them. Holmes, of course, had ignored this request. He had little interest in clothing, unless it was to provide him with a disguise, and although he was always correctly attired when we went to the theatre or to a concert he exhibited no pleasure in dressing for the event. Mrs Hudson had presumably found yet another shirt in the laundry that was practically beyond repair and had brought it upstairs to insist that Holmes purchase some replacements. When he had argued there was still some wear left in the shirt she had ripped the sleeve and told him he was mistaken.

I imagine at that point she had seen the burnt rug and shortly afterwards Holmes had decided he needed to go out for the day.

Shortly after I had finished my deductions there was a knock on the door and Ivy entered with my tea. She was followed by Billy who was carrying a parcel for Holmes which appeared to have been sent by a gentleman’s outfitters. There were two cups on the tray, so I concluded that Mrs Hudson expected Holmes to return home soon and that she had, once again, forgiven him.


End file.
